China and the United States yesterday agreed to beef up collaboration in the financial services sector.
Under agreements reached on the concluding day of the Third China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), qualified foreign-invested companies, including banks, will be allowed to issue renminbi-denominated stocks and bonds.
Beijing also pledged to reexamine its policy on foreign participation in domestic securities firms and come up with recommendations on new ceilings for foreign ownership, according to a joint fact sheet circulated after the dialogue.
A similar study of Chinese banks - which will recommend new ceilings on foreign ownership - is under way and will be completed by the end of 2008.
The two sides wound up the two-day SED - held in Xianghe, Hebei Province - with the signing of 31 agreements. Apart from financial services, they range from food safety, product quality, the environment and energy to China's market economy status.
Citing progress on food safety and environmental protection, Vice-Premier Wu Yi called the SED a "complete success".
"Both sides need to discuss Sino-US economic relations from a strategic point of view and map out a better blueprint for future economic and trade relations," said Wu, head of the Chinese delegation.
In his closing statement, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said delegates talked about "the importance of balanced growth in both our nations".
"We also both recognize the need to fight economic nationalism in our two nations," he said.
Shortly before the SED, China tripled the quota for qualified foreign institutional investors, which can invest in the domestic stock market, from $10 billion to $30 billion.
In return, the US said it remains committed to providing a level playing field to Chinese banks and broker-dealers seeking to open branches or register and operate in the US.
Paulson said that opening China's financial markets to foreign competition strengthens the financial backbone of the Chinese economy. "It's critical to China's goals of spreading the benefits of growth to all Chinese people," he said.
Both countries committed to address economic imbalances through dialogue and oppose trade and investment protectionism.
Playing down disputes on the speed of the yuan's appreciation, Paulson said "we didn't spend a lot of time talking about how fast is fast".
A statement from the US delegation recognized China's progress in its yuan appreciation policy: "The renminbi has appreciated 12.2 percent since July 2005, and in the past year the annual pace of appreciation accelerated from 3.4 percent in 2006 to 6.1 percent in 2007 year to date."
Vice-Commerce Minister Chen Deming made it clear on Wednesday that China was not against the yuan's appreciation, but stressed that a rapid rise of the currency would hurt the nation's economy, which would not be positive for the world.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.
